Spending cuts hit Port of Hueneme as customs overtime ends

The Port of Hueneme was notified Friday that all overtime shifts for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are being cut, a move that will have an across-the-board impact on port commerce.

Customs officers screen the cargo and vehicles that move through the port and their overtime budget is being zeroed out as a result of the federal government’s spending cuts to military and domestic programs, port officials said. The budget sequestration cuts took effect Friday.

Kristin Decas, executive director of the Port of Hueneme, learned from officials at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles that they also being affected but that the Port of Oakland and ports in the Pacific Northwest are not.

“What we’re hearing is this is not having a widespread impact on ports throughout the country and what we’re trying to do now is understand why,” she said. “It seems to be a strike on this jurisdiction.”

Decas plans to be in touch with politicians, the Pacific Maritime Association, and other agencies and officials. She said she will “pull out every tool in the toolbox to get this reversed.”

“This is a national issue,” she said. “All the customers are very concerned about this and we mobilized this afternoon to try and strategize about how we can work with other folks to make a statement that this is unacceptable.”

Decas said the cuts will leave hundreds of containers sitting on hold waiting to be inspected because ships are often delayed and they periodically arrive on Saturdays.

Now there will be no flexibility, she said. “That’s a real issue for the port. It affects all of our customers.”

A spokeswoman with the Customs and Border Protection office in Long Beach said the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., is handling all calls seeking comment. A spokesperson with the department could not be reached late Friday afternoon.

Oxnard Harbor Commission President Jason Hodge said the port has a strong partnership with U.S. Customs and will make every effort to ensure they have the funding necessary to meet the demands of commerce.

“Shutting down doors for business will only weaken our economy and that is unsound public policy,” he said. “That message needs to resonate.”